By Julien Pretot
PARIS (Reuters) – Police closed off the Adidas Arena ahead of a Euroleague basketball game between Paris and Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday because of a suspicious package outside the stadium.
A police officer told Reuters that no one was allowed inside the security perimeter while a dog was sent in to sniff a food delivery package that had been left on a bike.
The package was destroyed on site and spectators were allowed inside the security perimeter after half an hour.
“There was nothing in there,” a police officer told Reuters. “It was a preventive measure.”
The Euroleague Round 22 match was already classified as high-risk by the French National Division for the Fight against Hooliganism (DNLH), part of the Ministry of the Interior, due to security concerns linked to ongoing geopolitical tensions.
Israel and Hamas on Wednesday agreed to a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, opening the way to a possible end to a 15-month war that has upended the Middle East.
On the Place Stalingrad south of the Arena, dozens gathered to protest against the game being held, while several others celebrated the ceasefire.
“I am here to celebrate the ceasefire, which for me is a victory for the Palestinian people, and the end of the massacre,” Houssam Mahjoubi, a 35-year-old engineer in Paris, told Reuters.
He said the ceasefire, however, did not change his opposition to the match taking place.
“The ceasefire is just the beginning – we need the end of occupation in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.”
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry.
(Additional reporting by Layli Foroudi; Editing by Toby Davis)
